Stray Currents
by x-butterflykisses-x
Summary: Their lives were punctuated by conversations. But it was in the silences that they found themselves drawn together. After the close of the Breach and with the world's harsh glare upon them, Raleigh and Mako catch a brief moment alone in the emptiness of Alaska. Loose sequel to 'At The End'.


"After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." –

Aldous Huxley

* * *

**Anchorage, Alaska **

Press tours, endless, never ceasing interviews. The world wanted to meet their saviours, and as both Stacker Pentecost and Chuck Hansen had fallen it was down to the pilots of Gypsy Danger to be the poster children for the PPDC. The media had been wound up into a frenzy, the two jaeger pilots were bigger than the Beatles and the world was eager to devour any scrap of information the papers could drag up about the two rangers.

Both Mako and Raleigh's histories were dissected and discussed. Their fighting styles analyzed and the all-important question asked – Were they sleeping together?

Action figures and lunch boxes had been produced, they were more than rock stars, they were Goddamn superheroes and they were held up as examples to the world. Raleigh could do without the responsibility. He had given everything but his life to the Corps and now, they still demanded more of him.

It was in brief moments like this that he could stop and breathe. Raleigh could feel her beside him, throughout this whirlwind Mako had been his constant. The two having Drifted together, it would have been hard to shake his need to be with her, but the press tour had given him the perfect excuse.

Bending down slowly Mako placed the simple bunch of flowers on the grave, tears drifting down her cheeks. Emotions that didn't belong to her were rolling through her body. Reaching out her fingers skimmed the headstone, the strange yet familiar name of 'Yancy' etched in the masonry.

"He loved you…" Mako whispered, her eyes squeezing shut as she attempted to stop the flow of tears.

"I know," Raleigh nodded as he knelt down beside her, his hand reaching out to hers. Their fingers quickly knotted together, a reminder that they weren't alone; they had each other when everyone else had been taken from them.

"I'm sorry you have to feel this way," Raleigh apologized softly. "You already have so much to cope with, and its not like we've been given any time to deal."

"No… I miss him Raleigh." Mako let out a choked mirthless laugh. The man that had saved her from the Kaiju, Stacker Pentecost, was dead but Mako wasn't shedding tears for him – they were for Yancy Becket.

"I know," the blond replied, his hand squeezing on Mako's as he pulled her closer to him.

"I can't make it stop…" Mako whispered, her voice cracking, the taste of salt on her tongue.

Raleigh sighed, pulling the crying girl into his lap before placing a soft kiss on her temple as he stroked the hair from out of her face. "You've just got to let it ride out. The memories drift in and out. Half of mine were shared with Yancy anyway, that made it easier. You've just got to try and let mine go…"

"I can't shake the feeling that I'm betraying _sensei _some how." Mako shuddered, desperately trying to get her tears under control. Roughly wiping her cheeks with the back of her sleeve Mako fixed Raleigh with a look, her blood shot eyes searching for his blue ones. "And I hate myself because of it…"

"He'd understand Mako, he Drifted too, remember?" Raleigh whispered, his forefinger and thumb cupping his partner's chin as he gave her a small smile.

"Yes," Mako nodded, almost grudgingly.

"He would have liked you…" Raleigh suddenly said. "Yancy I mean."

"Do you think?" the girl asked, a small hiccup escaping her throat as the tears finally dried.

"Yeah," Raleigh smiled. "He'd probably try and get your number."

"Like the girl you fought over," Mako muttered. It was half a question, half a statement. A violent image of Raleigh throwing his older brother into a jukebox flared to forefront of her mind, bating away the unwanted memory Mako waited for her copilot to elucidate further.

"Yeah, her name was Naomi. She was pretty much a groupie, but you know, she was hot."

Mako raised her eyebrow, shooting Raleigh a look. "I was 18, pretty much any girl in a short skirt was hot."

"Was she worth it?"

Raleigh laughed, "Is any girl worth it?"

Mako sent her fist flying into Raleigh's arm, a playful smirk dancing across her features.

"Okay, okay!" Raleigh raised his hands in surrender. "It obviously wasn't Naomi's fault, Yancy was tired of me pussy footing around so he made a play. Yeah, it was a dick move and we fought but we were always brothers first, it just took me a little longer to see that…"

"I'm surprised they kept you in the program, fighting isn't exactly encouraged."

"The Marshall read us the Riot Act and I felt pretty crappy about it. Yancy came off a little worse though…"

"How so?"

"Scar over his left eye, but you know he used it to his advantage – girl's really like that sort of thing."

Mako giggled, "Raleigh Becket, don't pretend you haven't used your status as a Jaeger pilot to get a girl."

The blond gave her a sheepish smile, "I told you! I was 18…"

"And now?" Mako whispered.

"The magic doesn't really work when she's a Jaeger pilot too."

Mako nodded slowly, unsure of what to say; instead she snuggled further into Raleigh's chest. "Is there anywhere we can go?"

"Um…" Raleigh stuttered.

"What?"

"Well, that's the sort of line a girl uses when she wants to have sex with you."

Mako frowned, "I didn't mean that."

"No! I wasn't suggesting that you did!" Raleigh quickly covered, a pinkish hue colouring his cheeks. "Where do you want to go?"

"Somewhere warm," Mako replied quickly, rubbing her hands together for effect.

Pulling Mako to her feet Raleigh draped his arm over her shoulder, "C'mon, I know a place."

* * *

The bar was practically empty, only a few day drinkers sat huddled in their booths, hooded eyes flitting between the two Jaeger pilots and the muted picture on the beaten up TV set. But no sooner had the flutter of recognition passed across their faces, they turned back to their drinks, thoughts far away from lauded Jaeger pilots.

"How did you find this place?" Mako whispered, taking a sip of her club soda as she eyed the bowl of communal peanuts with distaste.

"Yancy and I used to come in here to get drunk when we were kids. The owner didn't exactly care so long as we were paying good money."

"I don't think I've ever been drunk…" Mako mused softly, more to herself than to her partner. "The Marshall wouldn't allow it. Besides, I don't think I even _like _alcohol."

Raleigh laughed, "Trust me, everyone starts out that way."

"I haven't done a lot of things Raleigh," rubbing a hand across the back of her neck the woman frowned. "The PPDC was my life, there wasn't much room for anything else."

"World's not going to Hell anymore, pretty sure you can do what you want to now Mako." Raleigh smiled, his free hand straying to hers, their pinky fingers looping round each other's.

"Then I'll start now," Mako nodded solemnly before untangling her hand from Raleigh's and moving towards the corner of the room.

There covered by layers of dust stood a jukebox. Depositing the requisite change Mako quickly selected a song before walking back towards Raleigh. Standing in front of her still seated copilot Mako cleared her throat. Taking her meaning Raleigh rose to his full height before guiding Mako to the well-varnished floor, wrapping his arms around her waist he pulled her to him and began swaying the two of them on the spot.

_"I cried for you _

_When the sky cried for you"_

Mako rested her head against Raleigh's chest, her arms snaking around his neck, her fingers weaving into the thick knit of his sweater. Not for the first time she was thankful for the presence of her copilot. He had been by her side, unfailingly devoted – her staunchest defender.

Their souls we bound together, their memories tied and their lives seemingly incomplete without each other.

_"And when you went _

_I became a hopeless drifter"_

It was never a question of love; Mako realized that now as she felt his steady heart beat beneath her cheek. The two rangers had shared too much, seen and done too much together for there to be anything less than love between them. Where she ended Raleigh began, helplessly entwined and blissfully content in each other.

_ "But this life was not for you_

_Though I learned from you, _

_That beauty need only be a whisper"_

Raleigh sent Mako spinning out from him before pulling her back into his embrace, savouring the scent of her perfume as it surrounded him. Her slight frame fit perfectly against his larger form as they two continued to sway slowly on the spot. Raleigh was struggling to remember the last time he'd slow danced with a girl, probably sometime when he was in school, a sparsely decorated gymnasium the likely venue. Not that Jimmy's Bar and Grill was any better, but the company certainly was. Raleigh pulled Mako closer to him, appreciating the contours of her body as they melded against his.

Resting his forehead against hers he smiled, Mako Mori had fast become the most important person his life. They balanced each other out in combat, and in his eyes she really was his better half. Ever since he had stepped back into the cockpit of Gypsy Danger Mako had been his loadstone, a focal point – the North Star shining so brightly that sometimes it almost hurt to look at her. But he'd rather go blind than not be near her; the intense connection they shared permeated his very being. Forever driven together Raleigh couldn't remember needing anyone as half as much.

"So, you've never danced with anybody?" The blond finally asked.

"No," Mako shook her head. "I've never danced with you Raleigh Becket."

* * *

**A/N: **The song from the jukebox is 'I Cried For You' by Katie Melua. It is such a wonderful song so I urge you all to listen to it if you haven't heard it.

Hope you enjoyed what I wrote and please let me know what you think!


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